


The American Sherlockian: His Last Vow

by Cumberbatch Critter (CumberbatchCritter)



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Critique, His Last Vow, Meta, Opinion, Review, Sherlock - Freeform, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-11 06:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1169812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CumberbatchCritter/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A review of <i>His Last Vow </i>from an American Sherlockian who wasn't <i>entirely </i> happy with the finale of Series Three. (But there were lots of good parts, too!)</p><p>Spoilers abounds.</p><p>Also, these are opinions. I'm not looking to fight. I'm looking to discuss, Sherlockian-to-Sherlockian. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The American Sherlockian: His Last Vow

Okay, _His Last Vow_.

I didn't write reviews for any of the other episodes... mostly because I had an episode to look forward to in the next week. Well, after the shocking finale, I don't, and I have a lot going through my head about this episode.

I loved TEH. It took me a few times watching it to realise this because I was so overwhelmed by it, but I ultimately decided I loved it. tSo3 was beautiful in ways that I can't put into words and that's enough said. When I first watched HLV, I thought I loved it. I get defensive of _Sherlock_ , so my initial reaction is to say _That was AWESOME_.

And then I let it sit and my brain was whirring and I realised I didn't like it as much as I thought I had.

Let's start with what I thought Moffat and Gatiss did _so_ right.

  * John having flashbacks to Afghanistan, to Sherlock. Like Sherlock says in the episode, John is a junkie. He is accustomed to a certain lifestyle and, truthfully, he is no different than Sherlock in that respect. He needs his fix.



 

  * Sherlock and the drugs. I know a lot of people probably don't like this, but drugs was Sherlock Holmes's one downfall. I love the idea that someone so powerful having his downfall exploited. There's something intriguing about the basis of a character being torn down, but I do like h/c and vulnerable Sherlock.



 

  * Molly slapping Sherlock (and the consequent finding out of the broken engagement). The slap was good enough, but then the broken engagement? I'm SORRY, but I really did NOT like Tom. My headcanon (and I say this without shipping Sherlolly in more than friends) was that Sherlock would come back and, inadvertantly, end up breaking up Tolly by making Molly realise that she loved Sherlock still.



 

  * Janine. Again, I'm sure a lot of people will argue with me for this, but Holmes _did_ get engaged in _The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton_. I think the dynamic of Sherlock in love is _adorable_ (but I am partial to Benedict Cumberbatch, so anything where he's adorable pulls the heartstrings) as long as it's for a case. Call me a hypocrite. I like the plot, but I don't think we'll see anything from her and I don't mind.



 

  * Mary. I love the back story. And I'm not going to milk that because it's been milked enough throughout the episode, but more on it later.



 

  * Sherlock being shot. Oh yes, I could go on about this forever. The mind palace scene. blew. me. a. fucking. way. Like one of my friends on FF said, give Benedict a BAFTA, damn it. And Andrew Scott... so little screen time, SUCH a performance. These men are terrific actors. And the mention of John is the one thing that brings Sherlock back to life. (Don't ship Johnlock, either, but oohh... platonic Johnlock all the way for me, and the feels soared.)



 

  * Sherlock tricking Mary into confessing to John. She's badass, he's badass, and John looking utterly pissed was so adorable in so many ways for reasons I'm not quite sure I understand. Little angry hobbit face. I want to hug him and pinch his cheeks. Ahem.



 

  * The Christmas scene in Oklahoma. So domestic, so adorable. I love Wanda and Timothy. I love the fact that Mrs Holmes is a genius, a mathematician. I love that she said she'd turn monstrous if she found out who shot Sherlock. I loved the brotherly moments between Sherlock and Mycroft. "Also, your loss would break my heart. What the HELL am I supposed to say to that?!"



 

  * The kid!lock flashbacks. Uber adorable, although that's not exactly what I pictured a young Sherlock to look like. And Redbeard... oh darling Redbeard. That breaks my heart; I've had dogs in the house since I was born. I'm a dog lover.



 

  * When Sherlock shoots Magnussen. I know it's cruel and I know some people say it isn't exactly in Sherlock's repertoire to kill someone, especially with the new, emotional Sherlock. But, going back to _The Sign of Three_ , he made a vow. He would do anything to protect his family (and no, I'm not talk about Khan, but isn't that a coincidence?), no matter what.



 

  * Jim. That's all. Of course we missed you.



 

  * All the canon references! The east wind, the beehives in Sussex Downs, the engagement, just to name a couple. I love the canon references; I'm such a sucker for them.



Now that's all good and well. But the problem with these moments was that most of these were inconsequential, small moments. Fleeting. The whole point was Charles Augustus Magnussen... and thus, onto what I didn't like.

  * I'm probably going to get my head totally chewed out for this: I didn't like CAM. Maybe it's because, after Moriarty, I'm expecting too much. But I found Charles _so_... boring. Yes, he's powerful. He could take the world out in a flash but he's so... dry. He puts John in a bonfire but wouldn't actually let him burn. Okay. I think a lot of people _like_ CAM because he's so different from Jim, but I just didn't enjoy his performance. Not to say that Lars isn't an amazing actor; I just didn't like CAM. He pissed me off, frankly, made me uncomfortable and not in a "I'll burn your heart" way. I know Mary couldn't have happened, really, without CAM, but... I can't quite put this into words, but I was a little disappointed. And he honestly didn't even have a huge part before being killed off... but this is just my opinion, again.



 

  * John. Whoever would think I would have a problem with one of the main characters? I feel like _so_ much has been lost between tSo3 and HLV. In tSo3, we had an emotional, caring John with his best friend on one side and his wife on the other. And then in HLV, it seemed like he had NO emotional range, except for the scene in Baker Street where he is talking to Mary about being a client.



 

  * The Sherlock-John dynamic. Tied in with last point. Where did it go? Sherlock gets shot and John just pats his face and calls 999? Wouldn't you, even if you _are_ an army doctor with potential PTSD, panic a _little_ if you found your best friend bleeding out? And when Sherlock breaks out from hospital, John goes back to Baker Street and just says "Try finding Sherlock in London!" like it's not a big deal. Sherlock _died_ , in hospital. His heart stopped. He should _not_ be out and John doesn't even _try_ to find him. That bothered me SO. fucking. much. John is always supposed to come for Sherlock, always. They are best friends, they are soulmates (whether or not you ship Johnlock or not). But he doesn't act like he cares. And the ending. John is under the impression Sherlock is going into exile and Sherlock is under the impression that he is going to be dead in six months and they. didn't. have. a conversation. He says "The game is over"? This is your BEST FRIEND. The man you thought you lost two/three (however much time has passed b/w TEH and HLV) years ago and now you have nothing to say? Best friend and best man and the game is over. Great.



 

  * John forgiving Mary. Now, I like Mary. Don't get me wrong. Amanda is lovely and Amanda and Martin on screen together makes me grin like a loon. But it was so... a bit not right. She's a killer and you don't want to know _why_? How many people she's killed? Why she killed them? What she's hiding from, running from? I loved John's line about her past being her business, her future being his, but... it seems unrealistic.



 

  * The 'confrontation' between S&J and CAM. It seemed, like I mentioned before, so dry to me. I just got bored, until Mycroft showed up. And CAM flicking John's face? I mean, was I the only one like . . . . . ??? -.o It just seemed to go on forever and it seemed a weird way to state 'ownership'.



 

  * Another moment with John - after Sherlock shoots CAM, John completely panics. Where was that emotion when Sherlock had been shot? And why is he making a big deal about it? He's killed people. He killed the cabbie in aSiP without blinking, but shooting the most potentially destructive man in all of the Western world is really a bad idea?



 

(For the record, I do not condone violence of any kind; I'm just reacting to the murders and death mentioned in the show. I'm not saying anyone should have been shot; I just think John's reaction was a bit extravagant but Sherlock shooting him was somewhat predictable given what Sherlock had said at the wedding.)

Let's face it: _Sherlock_ has changed. A lot of people are bitching about it, about Sherlock being emotional and the friendships being deeper and it's different from One  & Two. Of course it is. One doesn't fake his death, come back, and everything's fine. And there's Mary now, too. Things _are_ different.

All in all, I loved the series. _The Sign of Three_ has become my favourite out of the nine. I'm _so_ excited for Moriarty to come, if it's really him (maybe it's actually Jim's brother: Jim!)

**The Q &A Bit!**   
**(Meaning this is the bit I'd really like to discuss, if not the whole of it.)**

When Mycroft's talking to his circle and one of the men says 'I hope this isn't familial bonding speaking' (or something to that extent), Mycroft says 'I'm not prone to outburst of brotherly compassion.' "You know what happened to the other one."

Other one? _Other one_? Is there another Holmes brother or am I reading into it too much? Is there going to be a Sherrinford? Or maybe a red-headed pilot for a little charter line called MJ... no, not serious. :p But really, another Holmes? The world's not big enough for two of them, but I'm eager to see what that means.

And Baby Watson. I'm torn on whether or not I think that will happen. A lot of people would be happy to see Sherlock as a 'godfather' type figure (myself included, him and Archie were adorable), but I also think a lot of the people who like the 'canon' straight and narrow will be put off by the fact that there's a baby in the mix. I'm not sure if Mary will die in childbirth, if the baby will be stillborn, if it'll be born healthy... I'm fine with it either way (although the formers would be heartbreaking).

As for _His Last Vow_ , I did like it. I don't _dislike_ any of the _Sherlock_ series. It just didn't impress me like TEH and tSo3 did, and certainly not tRF. Our of the nine, HLV would probably end up maybe... seventh on my list. It's not as bad as tBB but nowhere near as good as tSo3 or tRF, in my opinion.  


My opinion, yes. So, I'm open to discussion. And I'd like your opinions. (If you followed me from FF.net, it's probably easier to send me a PM there; I check those more frequently than this if you really want to have an intense conversation. :) If you're an AO3'er or a guest and have a thought, have at it. That's what this is for, after all. Reviews and critiques.

#Sherlocklives


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